Romaine lettuce imported from the United States has been associated with several outbreaks of foodborne E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Canada and the U.S. The U.S authorities have identified the following recurring geographical areas as the source of the outbreaks: California Salinas Valley counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey.
To decrease the risk associated with E. coli O157:H7 in romaine lettuce, CFIA is implementing temporary Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence conditions for the importation of romaine lettuce originating from the U.S. Between September 28 and December 22, 2022, importers of romaine lettuce and/or salad mixes containing romaine lettuce from the U.S. must:
- declare that the product does not originate from counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey in the Salinas Valley, California, U.S., or
- submit an attestation form and Certificates of Analysis for each shipment to demonstrate that the romaine lettuce does not contain detectable levels of E. coli O157:H7
The complete details on the temporary SFC license conditions and other existing import requirements are outlined here.
Please contact your Livingston account representative should you have any questions.